You had all found yourselves here at this small and seemingly insignificant caf for numerous reasons and purposes of your own devising; fate bringing you all together in your hunt for information.

Yoko has been waiting to meet a member of TerraSave who contacted her, telling her he had information about the bioterrorists she was looking into. It had been quite sudden and he had instructed her to wait for him in the back corner of the cafe at a small booth for two.

Trixie was presently meeting with a former Umbrella America research assistant who knew her father, and the man they had been calling 'Gandalf' but nobody seemed to know his real name, "I'm sorry I don't know more." He said with a sigh, "I was just a Janitor."

Andrei was in a near-by alley meeting with a pair of Russians who had information about the black market for him, one man playing with a switchblade while the other spoke, "Ah friend, you see. We may have the information you are seeking, but it will cost you. Do you carry American Dollars?"

"Friends, Comrades Countrymen!" Andrei offers in his well... he does not have a Ukranian accent and frankly he wasn't sure where that would get him. "I carry all sorts of currency! American, French, Bullet, come come! Let us do business!" Andrei offers with a great big smile. The man's eyes shifting curiously between the pair as he moves through the alleyway, head tilting to the side as he shifts his bag over his shoulder.

"All I ask before we start is that you are not pulling my leg right? I've gotten my leg pulled a lot of times and I like my legs. I also really like you two. You two seem like cool dudes." He'll eye the man with the switchblade before smiling slightly before looking back to the primary 'actor' here. "So uh, what you got? Little taste? Little uh.. morsel?"

Yoko walks in, wearing a green sweatshirt instead of her usual coat, but otherwise the same jeans and sneakers as before. She holds her laptop to the side in one hand and shifts from one leg to the other occasionally, looking a little on the restless side. Eventually, a host comes up to greet her, and she explains about the reservation that was made, and she is guided to the booth at the back.

"The other person will be here shortly, they're just running late," Yoko explains to the host, before ordering a cup of tea. After that, she sips the complimentary glass of water she received and proceeds to take out her laptop and put it on the table. She turns it on and begins to play Solitaire, almost as if trying to pass the time, but not look too suspicious either.

"That's a shame. But why would a janitor be in Afghanistan helping with an illegal bioweapons deal? Forgive me if I'm skeptical... I'm trying to be understanding and sympathetic, but I have to go with what I saw at the scene. Unless you have an evil twin or something," Trixie replies softly, setting down her teacup. Her presence demanded a small reason for being here, and tea and a very little snack seemed the best way to go. Pity she was never fond of tea. "Given the ebbs and flows of this business, I can't completely rule cloning out as a possibility."

"You can have a taste when we see the cash, you are a little too eager and we hear you ask many questions." The Russian replied to Andrei in the alley as his compatriot continued to play with his switchblade, "Black Market is serious business, lot of people wanting to get involved, whether to buy or sell. $2500 US Dollars only, we give you what you seek."

Inside of the Cafe, the Janitor that Trixie was speaking to seemed insulted by her reply which lacked definitive charisma or charm of any kind, "I never said I was in Afghanistan, but if you want to insult me, I guess we're done here Miss Mackenzie." The man adjusted the collar of his shirt and stood up from the table, "I'll see myself out, but if you do see Doctor Marcus, please, do tell him that Charles says hello." Was Doctor Marcus, Gandalf?

Yoko didn't have to wait much longer as a man in a trenchcoat stepped inside of the cafe and walked directly towards her purposely, he didn't sit down, "Yoko. Good to see you. This place isn't safe to speak. We need to go, now." There was an almost mechanical rhythm to the man's voice, as if he was reading from a script.

As if via instinct, Yoko had shut her laptop down and tucked it under her arm when the man approached her table. Slipping it into her backpack before zipping it shut, Yoko stands up and nods a little, although the look on her face indicated that she was a bit wary about this whole thing. Thinking quickly, she left some money on the table as a tip and to cover the cost of tea she'd drank just before the man came in. Then she stepsd towards the man in the trenchcoat a little.

"All right, I'll follow you," Yoko says as she gets ready to follow this mysterious man. At the same time, beads of sweat are forming on her forehead, almost like she's got a bad feeling about this. She tries not to let it get the best of her as she waits for the trenchcoated man to guide her out of the cafe and hopefully to a safer place.

"What? I ask questions only becuase I care! Deeply, Comrade." Andrei responds cheerfully enough, clearly not taking this quite a seriously as he should be as he moves a hand slowly into bag to pull out a bandaged stack of bills, holding it up then as he motions vaugley towards the pair. "So right then. Cool? Uh.. you want the cash first then?" Andrei offers as he looks over the money in his hand. This was like six months of saving and the man clearly was having second thoughts.

Those fingers of his will visibly tighten around the roll before he shakes his head and holds it out expectantly. "Count it, all that fun stuff. What you got for me?"

Chris went for a walk to clear his head and didn't sleep that well last night. He finds himself in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, but notices the Mon Amour Cafe and heads towards it so he can grab another coffee for a jolt of caffine to keep him going until the next meeting he has scheduled. He's dressed in a leather jacket, white collar shirt, blue jeans and black doc marten boots. Passing an alley, he glances in noticing a few men there but doesn't pay them much attention and walks through the front door of the cafe, heading to stand in the line up in any to place an order.

"We're just fucking with you comrade." The Russian man said to Andrei, "We were friends of Kalin Mikhailov, heard you knew him. So consider this favor from one brother to another, hmm?" The man laughed heartily before leaning in to whisper something to Andrei about the Black Market.

The Trenchcoated man said nothing else as he lead Yoko out of the cafe towards the street, passing Chris in the process. No doubt, Chris from his years of police and military work would be getting a very bad vibe from the man; the kind of vibe an innocent young woman like Yoko might not get.

"Who.. Oh Mercenary! Yah me and him were totally bros.. even watched this widow go down on him, nearly ate him whole! Crazy shit that man is into!" Andrei offers cheerful then as his head tilts to the side, hand reaching up to tap at his chest as he offers a small great big smile then. He'll listen intently and cheerfully all the while of course. "Oh? Really? Sexy stuff that!"

Yoko was following the man instinctively, but she was still getting a slightly bad vibe from him. Still, she followed along with him, just in case there was nothing truly to fear. She didn't notice Chris as he went by, as she was too busy following the trenchcoated man. What the man probably didn't realize was that Yoko had a concealed Beretta on her that she could probably use in case things became violent.

But what's to say the man wasn't carrying a worse weapon? What if he had backup? That was a scenario Yoko hoped didn't play out. She could only breathe slowly and continue walking.

Chris watches the trenchcoated man with Yoko as they pass him by to leave the Cafe. He quirks an eyebrow slightly, when Yoko passes him and his brow furrows as he tries to recall why she looks so familiar. "Excuse me. I know you from somewhere but I can't remember exactly from where. I'm Chris by the way and this is my first time in this cafe. Is the coffee good?" He says to Yoko, trying to generate conversation in the hopes she stops to talk to him, while he takes a closer look at the trenchcoated man. Which he is doing, watching the stranger who has given him a bad vibe, sizing the man up.

The Russian nodded to Andrei, "Aye Comrade. Maybe we'll see you there sometime. Take care of yourself." The man with the switchblade nodded as well, still playing with it as the pair began to walk down the alley; no doubt on to more Bratva business.

Even if they had given Andrei the information for free, nothing was ever free. It was likely they would call upon him at some point in the future. It was how these things worked.

The man glared at Chris and said, "Nobody is talking to you. Go about your business. Come on Yoko. You don't know who you can trust nowadays, anyone could be working for Umbrella." He began to walk towards the door again.

Andrei Kirov will just give a slight lift of his shoulders then as he takes a second to exhale then before offering a nod of his head. Andrei's hands will fall to his sides then as he ofers a nod and a wave, quickly moving to take a step away from the pair as he waves back at them. "See you around, buds, or not, you know.. whatever is good though.." Andrei mutters as he walks away.. quickly, no need to start or get into trouble

As soon as Chris speaks up, and then the guy gets rude to him, Yoko spots an opportunity to step back and looks to Chris. "Oh, uh, Chris, right? I know your sister quite well, you know. As for the coffee, well... I don't know." She looks to the man and says, "He's not with Umbrella, I know him quite well!" As the words are spoken, Yoko's suspicions start to grow even more. She looks up at Chris with a look that says, "Help me, please." It's like she wants to call out for help, but she's afraid to.

Chris's eyes narrow slightly when the trenchcoated man glares at him and then has the gall to tell him to mind his own business. He listens to Yoko, nodding his head when she acknowledges who he is, mentioning his sister by name and telling the stranger he's not Umbrella. He takes a step to the side, putting himself between Yoko and the Trenchcoated man in a protective fashion. He keeps his hands loose at his side, bringing them up just slightly towards his chest with his palms open in case the guy trys to throw a punch or pull out a weapon. He's been in too many bar brawls and street fights to let his guard down now. "You heard the lady and I think it is time for you to leave."

He noticed a red head when he walked in, not sure if it was anyone he knew but his attention is fully focused on the stranger who was trying to get Yoko out of the Cafe so he doesn't notice Trixe's smile towards him.

"My deepest apologies, then... please, forgive my unfounded suspicions," Trixie replies, contritely, and quite sincerely. "Though you /have/ got me wondering who Doctor Marcus is. I'll make sure he knows, if I can find him... I know a Doctor Berger, but Markus is his first name."

She glances at Yoko as she moves to leave, a gesture that is as much nerves as instinct. The woman and her companion don't immediately seem to be a threat, but she makes a note in her mind to remember them. Chris's arrival also gets her attention, but she smiles faintly as she recognizes him. She doesn't greet him, however, as that might make her tablemate even more likely to bolt.

Charles nodded to Trixie, not looking anything like Doctor Marcus, who will never ever be known as Gandalf again, "Doctor Marcus is the man you are looking for. James Marcus." Charles left the area without looking back.

Not long after Charles exited, the trenchcoated man swiftly drew a pistol and fired off a pair of shots towards Yoko, not even a word. He was no TerraSave member, he was a hitman!!!

Chris see's the man drawing a gun, firing twice towards Yoko and he acts without any hesitation, throwing himself in front of her to take the rounds! He gets shot in both legs for his troubles, feeling two very sharp pains as the bullets enter but he manages to keep his feet and not go into shock through sheer force of will. He quickly draws his own pistol, bringing it up quickly to aim, flicking the safety off as he is drawing on target, then flash targeting the man's gun arm as he lets off a 3 round burst! At this close range he's not likely to miss and with some luck he's able to get all 3 rounds into a tight grouping in the man's arm! "Everyone get down, he's got a gun!" He yells out to the people in the Cafeteria.

As soon as the pistol came out, Yoko's first instinct was to get away. Despite having her holstered handgun, she panicked and spun while dropping to the ground and attempting to scamper away on her hands and knees like she'd learn to do in Raccoon City. She had to get as far away as she could, but then there was the issue of Chris. Would he be OK? For now, Yoko simply attempts to take cover behind something and hopefully fish out her hand gun.

The burst of bullets catches the man in the arm and the side of his torso, before he can fire off another shot or make another move. He falls to the ground dead in the middle of the room as a pool of blood begins to gather at the corpse.

People are already on their cell phones calling the police, others are under the table.

"Thank you. Be /very/ careful out there," Trixie says gratefully as the man leaves. Sighing softly, she pushes her chair back to stand...

And the room is suddenly filled with the OMG-that-storm's-CLOSE thunderclap-like indoor gunshots. She instinctively drops to the floor, dragging her triangular slingpack around front to draw her pistol. "You're a smart man, Charles..." she murmurs, looking for the shooters.

They're not hard to find. Seeing Chris down and wounded but able to protect himself adequately, she watches the target go down in a mess of loose gun and gore. She doesn't take her hand from the gun, just in case someone else decides to pop up and shoot at anyone else here. But she does take her F.B.C. ID from her pack. The police and emergency services people are likely to be suspicious of her without it.

Chris seems to get a second wind after a burst of adrenaline as he drops the trenchcoat wearing gunman without meaning to kill him but his rounds spun the man enough that the third bullet from his burst, killed him. He keeps his gun trained on the downed man, glancing to the side to make sure that there are no other threats before putting his gun away and walking towards the man to check his pulse, while moving the assassin's gun with his foot away from easy reach in case he's got some fight left in him. "Everyone okay?" he asks, looking around and spotting Yoko as she was the intended target. "Yoko, right? Why was he after you and do you know who he is?" He then searches the man, patting him down to search for additional weapons, wallet, cell phone and other evidence to ID the man or find out who he works for, why he would do this. He looks at Trixie, when she calls out to him and nods, "I'm okay. Check outside, see if the Police are coming and be careful in case there are additional shooters."

"Got it!" Trixie calls back to Chris. She shifts to a crouch, coming up next to the table, keeping her ID in hand. "Nobody panic! Just stay calm!" she all but shouts to the customers, regretting her weak command of French. "The authorities are surely on their way now!"

Moving in a crouch to the door, she pauses next to the door, looking out through the windows. "Not yet!" she calls back to Chris. "I don't see anyone doing anything but running away!"

Chris winces a little, as he kneels down the pain in his legs are evident but it seems like they are just grazes and nothing too serious fortunately for him. He shakes his head after checking the assassin, finding no pulse, "He's dead." Then does a thorough search, carefully examining anything of significance before the cops get here since he was a cop himself not too long ago, but he needs to find out why this guy is targeting Yoko in case it's related to his own investigation. "I'm Chris Redfield, with the BSAA. Don't worry everyone. You are safe now." He pulls out a badge to show the terrified customers who witnessed the shooting and see's that someone who understands English, translates in French to the people in the room. He nods to man who is translating, "Thank you." He looks towards Trixie and nods, standing up now and uses his cell phone camera to photograph the body and the gun. He then picks up the man's gun by the trigger guard using a pen he got from inner jacket pocket to examine it, taking note of the model, the calibre and the serial number. He then gently sets the gun back down near the body, as close to the original position he found it in.

He then nods to Trixie, "Okay. Thanks for the help, Corporal Mackenzie and I trust you will provide a witness statement to the authorities when they arrive of what you saw here." He spots Yoko, hiding underneath a table, she looks absolutely scared out of her mind with tears streaming down her face. He approaches her slowly, holding out his hands towards her. "It's okay, Yoko. You are safe now. The cops are on their way." He tries to console her the best he can until the ambulance arrives to treat her for shock. Sirens can be heard in the distance, they get there pretty quickly and two cops enter first with their guns drawn, until they hear from several witnesses that tell them in French what happened. One holster his gun approaching Trixie first, to speak to her in okay English. "What happened here?" The other cop goes outside to let the arriving officers know what is going on and to send more cops in to take witness statements as well as crime scene maintenance.

Trixie zips her pack and shifts it back to her back as Chris moves to check the body, though she does stand with her back to the wall between the door and the front window, just in case an unseen shooter decides to start blasting. Luckily, that doesn't happen. She does move away from that position when the police arrive, just so she doesn't look like she was waiting to ambush them. Yoko is given a sympathetic look, and she makes a mental note to comfort her as soon as she's free to do so. It also occurs to her that she doesn't know the young woman's name. Or who the shooter is. Or was, rather.

She keeps her right hand at her side, slightly spread and palm outward, as the policeman approaches to question her. Her left is raised, her F.B.C. ID in plain view. "Corporal Trixie Mackenzie, F.B.C., and I'm not totally sure. I was just pushing my chair back to leave, when I heard several gunshots, maybe four, from behind me. I went to the floor and looked around, and I saw that man over there with a smoking gun in hand, being shot by Monsieur Redfield there. I will vouch for Mr. Redfield's character, if it's needed."

The Paris Police officer nods, looking over Trixie's FBC Identification closely, then using his radio to speak in French to his dispatch and then takes out a notebook writting down Trixie's full name, date of birth and FBC rank as well as her statement to him. "Oui Madamoiselle Mackenzie. Merci." The officer then approaches Chris Redfield, motioning for him to put his hands above his head, then cuffing him first, taking his gun from his holster and taking his ID from him while moving him away from the body. Another three Police Officers come in, one walks over to the body to make sure nobody gets near it while the other two usher people to the back of the room to begin taking statements. It doesn't take long for the forensic team to arrive, take photographs and some detectives wearing suits to show up and take over the investigation from the uniform officers.

Chris is unhandcuffed after the detectives confirm the eye witness accounts that the trenchcoat man shot first, intending to shoot at Yoko but Chris intervened, killing the man in self defence and has authorization to carry a concealed firearm since he is a BSAA operative, recognized by the French Government and Authorities as an organization supported by the United Nations to operate in this country.

Two ambulance attendants escort Yoko out of the cafe after the detectives have spoken to her, so they can examine her in the ambulance to treat her for shock. One detective speaks to Chris in English, uncuffing him and handing him his firearm back. "Here you go Moiseur Redfield. You are fortunate to not have been killed after taking bullets intended for miss Suzuki. I will need to speak to you further back at our station to get an official statement and you should get checked out by the ambulance as well first before we go." Chris nods to the detective. "Thanks and I will." The detective then turns to Trixie, smiliing at her as he approaches. "We will also need an official statement from you back at out office. But perhaps we can go for a drink first, madamoiselle?" He is a handsome middle aged man, athletic and charming.

Chris glances towards Trixie, patting her on the shoulder as he walks past and heads towards the door. "See you in a bit. If you need me, I'll be outside at the ambulance."

Trixie never gets her chance to comfort poor Yoko, given the sheer volume of police attention in her general area and the distance between them. She seems to be adequately taken care of by the emergency services and police, thankfully. "Bonne chance, Chris," she says to Chris as he moves to leave, managing a nervous smile. It had looked very bad for him for a little while, and she'd seen more than one European film about miscarriages of justice. Thankfully for her heart health, the French police seem very professional.

She smiles faintly at the detective. "I could not refuse that offer, M'sieu. Merci beaucoup." Perhaps her French is still rather weak, but her French accent is improving swiftly.

The Detective smiles again as Trixie accepts his offer, "Fantastique. I know of another little cafe that has excellent espresso and tres bien croissants not too far from the station, we could stop their first and then continue on for our interview." The detective nods to Chris as he walks past them, looking a little smug in fact that he's got himself a very attractive witness to interview rather than the big American meathead. Although a one of the younger uniform female police officers in attendance does take notice of Redfield's injuries, rushing over to him to help him towards the ambulance and take down his information, one more time for her notes. "Excuse em moi, moiseur Redfield. Un moment." Chris glances towards the young female officer as she takes him by the arm, even though he's walking fine with a slight limp towards the Ambulance and gets some medical attention for the two bullet wounds in his legs.

Yoko is of course being treated first for her shock and they will tend to Chris's wounds shortly afterwards. The other witnesses corroborate, Chris's, Yoko's and Trixie's account of the events so they won't be arrested or charged since it is clearly self defence and the intended victim was Yoko. Just who this man was, or why he wanted to kill Yoko remained a mystery for now but hopefully in the near future all will be revealed or at least some light shed on this attempted hit on the Terrasave member's life.